MegaUpload / Universal

The Mega Song. Megaupload Drops Lawsuit Against Universal Music Over Viral Video (Exclusive)
Getty Kanye West In the aftermath of the Justice Department's crackdown on Megaupload, the company has dropped its lawsuit against Universal Music Group over an allegedly unlawful takedown of a video showing many superstars endorsing the troubled file-sharing service.

However, the lawsuit is not quite over just yet. On Friday, Megaupload's lawyers filed a notice in California federal court to dismiss the claims against UMG without prejudice, but also told the judge that that the claims against anonymous John Does who participated in the takedown of the viral video continues. Megaupload also wants to pursue further discovery in the case and is attempting to get Google to cooperate on this front by preserving records. PHOTOS: Hollywood's Memorable Mea Culpas A lawsuit that was strange from the very beginning has just taken another twist. Soon thereafter, just as the video was going viral, the music video was yanked off of YouTube over an apparent takedown notice. E-mail: eriqgardner@yahoo.com. MegaUpload soutenu par Puff Daddy, Alicia Keys, Snoop Dogg et d'autres artistes.

UMG claims "right to block or remove" YouTube videos it doesn't own. Universal Music Group has responded to Megaupload's request for a temporary restraining order barring the music giant from further interference with the distribution of its "Mega Song.

" UMG insists that it had a right to take down the video—not under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, as Megaupload had assumed, but under a private contractual arrangement between UMG and YouTube. UMG's filing raises more questions than it answers.
Universal Says It Can’t Be Sued for Bogus Megaupload Video Takedown. (This story was updated at 2:15 p.m.

EST Friday with YouTube’s response) Universal Music acknowledged late Thursday that it was responsible for taking down from YouTube the infamous Megaupload video in which pop stars — from Mary J. Blige to Kanye West and others — sing the praises of the notorious file-sharing service. But the record label said there’s nothing Megaupload can do about Universal Music taking down the video, even if Universal doesn’t own the rights to it. Megaupload sued Universal Music on Monday, saying that the record label had no right to take the video down, since the file-sharing service had signed contracts from the performers, including Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am.

Following the filing of a Megaupload lawsuit the song is now back online, but Universal are standing firm. The label says that they have a private arrangement with YouTube that falls outside of the DMCA, and that essentially they can take down any content they like, whether they own the copyrights or not. Ben Jones takes a closer look at the mechanics. When something is flagged by YouTube’s Content ID the copyright claimant has to decide what will happen to the video. The video can be monetized with ads, the video can be restricted from view in any or all countries, or nothing is done so the video can be used as a popularity measurement. In situations like these a marker is shown on the video manager of the uploader, alerting them to a copyright claim with details of who and what the claim is. This is as far as UMG says things have gone.

YouTube Says Universal Had No ‘Right’ to Take Down Megaupload Video. YouTube said Friday that Universal Music abused the video-sharing site’s piracy filters when it employed them to take down a controversial video of celebrities and pop superstars singing and praising the notorious file-sharing service Megaupload.

YouTube’s copyright filters removed the all-star video, which features Kanye West, Mary J. Blige, will.i.am and others, on Dec. 9. Google reinstated the four-minute spot Wednesday. “Our partners do not have the right to take down videos from YT unless they own the rights to them or they are live performances controlled through exclusive agreements with their artists, which is why we reinstated it,” Google-owned YouTube said.
Megaupload to Universal: You’ve Got Some Explaining To Do.

In their 18-page response filing at the US District Court for Northern Californian earlier this month, not once did Universal Music say why they forced YouTube to remove Megaupload’s Mega Song.

Since that's what the dispute between the two companies is all about, that was a pretty strange event. In a new filing, Megaupload makes it clear that it isn't going to be brushed aside. The cyberlocker wants answers, and it will dig deep to get them.